To run for borough council in Pennsylvania, you must be a registered voter of the borough who has lived there continuously for at least one year before the election, and for a ward seat you must live in the ward. To seek the Democratic or Republican nomination in 2027, you collect at least 10 valid signatures from registered members of your party who live in the borough or ward, between Tuesday, February 16 and Tuesday, March 9, 2027. You file the petition, a notarized candidate's affidavit and a Statement of Financial Interests by March 9. There is no filing fee. The primary is on Tuesday, May 18, 2027, the election is on Tuesday, November 2, 2027, and new council members take office on Monday, January 3, 2028.
The February 16, March 9, May 18 and January 3 dates are calculated from state law, so confirm them with your county board of elections. For the steps every local candidate follows, see our guide to running for local office in Pennsylvania. This post covers what is specific to borough council.
How borough council is organized
The Borough Code sets the shape of the council, and the size depends on whether your borough is divided into wards:
- A borough without wards has seven council members. By referendum, after a petition signed by 5 percent of the borough's registered voters, voters can reduce the council to five or three members, or increase a smaller council to five or seven.
- A borough with wards elects one or two council members from each ward. In some wards that elected three members before 1966, the number is three.
Council members serve four-year terms. The terms are staggered, so about half the seats are filled at each municipal election. Members elected on November 2, 2027 take office on the first Monday of January, which is Monday, January 3, 2028 (based on state law). A council may set pay for its members by ordinance.
Council is not the only borough office. Voters also elect a mayor and a tax collector, each every four years. Unless the borough appoints its auditor, voters also elect either three auditors (one at each municipal election, for a six-year term) or a controller. Check with your county board whether your borough's mayor, tax collector or auditor seat is on the 2027 ballot.
If you are not sure whether you live in a borough or a township, check your county board's list of municipalities. Townships elect supervisors instead of council members, and our guide to running for township supervisor in Pennsylvania covers that office.
Who can run
The Borough Code sets these rules for every elected borough office:
- Registered voter of the borough. Only registered voters of the borough are eligible.
- One year of residence. Before being sworn in, each new officer gives the borough secretary a signed statement that they live in the borough (or in the ward, for a ward seat) and have lived in the borough continuously for at least one year before the election. A borough with fewer than 150 residents may allow newer residents to serve.
- One elective borough office at a time. You cannot hold two elected borough offices at once.
- No school directors. A school director, or a trustee of a charter school, may not be elected to an elective borough office.
Two more rules apply to every candidate. The candidate's affidavit says you are not running for an office you already hold whose term does not end in the same year. And an election officer, such as a judge of elections or inspector, is not eligible for any office voted on at an election where that officer serves, other than an election office. If either rule might affect you, ask your county board before you circulate.
Ward seat or at-large seat
Find out exactly which seat you are running for before you print a petition. In a borough without wards, every seat is elected by the whole borough, and your signers may live anywhere in the borough. In a borough with wards, you run for your own ward's seat, and your signers must live in that ward. Your county board of elections can tell you which seats in your borough, and in your ward, are on the 2027 ballot.
Your nomination petition
Borough council falls under the Election Code's line for "all other public and party offices," which requires at least 10 valid signatures. Each signer must be a registered and enrolled member of your party and a qualified voter of the borough or ward. Pennsylvania's primaries are closed, so a voter registered in the other party, or registered with no party, cannot sign your petition.
Practical points for the three-week window:
- Dates. Circulation begins Tuesday, February 16, 2027, and a signature counts only if it is dated from February 16 through Tuesday, March 9, 2027 (based on state law).
- Seats and signers. If two or more seats are open, each voter may sign petitions for as many candidates as there are seats. A voter who signs too many on the same date has none of those signatures counted once an objection is raised.
- Circulators. The person who collects the signatures (the circulator) must be a Pennsylvania voter enrolled in your party, and completes a statement at the bottom of each sheet. If you are enrolled in that party, you may circulate your own petition.
- Margin. Collect well above 10. Signatures fail when a signer is registered in another party, lives outside the ward or leaves out the date.
Beacon's guide to Pennsylvania nomination petitions covers the petition rules in more detail.
What to file by March 9
By the county board of elections' ordinary closing time on Tuesday, March 9, 2027 (based on state law), file:
- Your nomination petition, bound together and numbered at the foot of each page.
- Your candidate's affidavit, notarized. If you cannot obtain a notarization, the Department of State allows an Unsworn Statement in Lieu of Notarization.
- Your Statement of Financial Interests for the 2026 calendar year, an ethics disclosure. File it with the borough by March 9 and attach a copy to your petition. A petition without it cannot be accepted, and leaving it out is a fatal defect.
The Election Code charges no filing fee for borough offices. After you file, objections are due in court by Tuesday, March 16, and the last day to withdraw is Wednesday, March 24, 2027 (both based on state law).
Campaigning to May 18
In the primary, your voters are the members of your party in your borough or ward. Two voter deadlines come before primary day: Monday, May 3, 2027 to register or change party, and 5 p.m. on Tuesday, May 11, 2027 to apply for a mail or absentee ballot (both based on state law). On Tuesday, May 18, polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Our campaign plan to the May 18, 2027 primary sets out the work week by week.
Send a short text series to supporters who opted in
A borough race has only a few key dates, so a short series of texts can cover them. In CampaignCNX+ you can write a drip sequence (a series of texts sent on a schedule) in advance, and add to it only the supporters who agreed to hear from you. Set it up this way:
- Collect written, dated permission. Use a sign-up sheet at the doors or at your kickoff that says plainly the person agrees to receive campaign texts. Never text everyone who signed your petition or everyone on a voter list.
- Check your committee filing, then request Campaign Verify. Campaign Verify is the check that confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that you are a real campaign. It costs $95 per two-year cycle, is for 527 committees (the federal tax status of a political committee), and needs your committee's EIN (its federal tax ID number) and an election-authority filing published online. The PIN goes only to the contact details on that filing, and candidates with no committee are not eligible. Ask your county board of elections whether your local committee filing can be viewed online. If it cannot, ask Campaign Verify Support before you pay. Campaign Verify decides eligibility. Request it on or after Sunday, November 15, 2026, so it lasts until January 31, 2029.
- Open your account. CampaignCNX+ files your carrier registration, including the Campaign Verify token you buy from Campaign Verify. 100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month.
- Write the sequence. For example, a welcome text, a registration reminder in late April, and a primary-day reminder on May 18. Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, and STOP replies are handled automatically.
Thanks for signing up for Rivera for Borough Council updates. I'll text a few key dates before May 18. Reply STOP to opt out.
Rivera for Borough Council: Monday, May 3 is the last day to register or change party for the May 18 primary.
Today is the May 18 primary. Polls are open 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thank you for supporting Rivera for Borough Council.
For the texting rules in more depth, see our political texting guide.
Get ready before February 16
Confirm your seat, line up a circulator, and prepare your ethics form this winter, so the three-week petition window is spent collecting signatures. Set up your texting at the same time. Start a trial once your committee filing is online.
